FINDING OF SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT
NIH GUIDE, Volume 24, Number 35, October 6, 1995
P.T. 34
Keywords:
Ethics/Values in Science & Technol
Grants Administration/Policy+
Department of Health and Human Services
Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)
has made final findings of scientific misconduct in the following
case:
Catherine Kerr, St. Mary's Hospital: The Office of Research
Integrity (ORI) conducted an investigation into possible scientific
misconduct on the part of Ms. Catherine Kerr while she was a data
coordinator at St. Mary's Hospital, Montreal, Quebec. ORI concluded
that Ms. Kerr committed scientific misconduct by falsifying and
fabricating the dates of tests or examinations required prior to
study entry for one woman entered on the Breast Cancer Prevention
Trial (BCPT). She also fabricated laboratory results and falsified
dates of laboratory tests used to follow the progress of another
woman entered on the trial. The BCPT is coordinated by the National
Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) and supported by
the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute. Because the BCPT is still in progress, no conclusions or
results have been published and no clinical recommendations have been
based on the results of the study.
Ms. Kerr originally appealed but later withdrew her request for a
hearing on the ORI findings and administrative actions, which require
that, for a period of three years, any institution that proposes Ms.
Kerr's participation in PHS-supported research must submit a
supervisory plan designed to ensure the scientific integrity of her
contribution. Ms. Kerr is also prohibited from serving in any
advisory capacity to PHS for a period of three years.
INQUIRIES
Director, Division of Research Investigations
Office of Research Integrity
5515 Security Lane, Suite 700
Rockville, MD 20852
Telephone: (301) 443-5330
.